Um. If the MTA workers strike NYC is gonna be screwed.

400 million dollars in lost revenue for NYC a day. If the striking MTA workers are given what they asked it will cost $142,000,000 a year and the MTA has a billion dollar surplus to play with. If this strike lasts for the weekend it will be a 1.2 billion dollar loss for the city on pretty much one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. The loss of revenue will be enough to pay the raises of all MTA workers for almost 10 years. What the HELL are they thinking?

NYU (the bastards) are setting up cots in the gymnasium so off-campus students can sleep there before finals. I'm sure they'll be at optimal performance living like refugees.

I am on strike at NYU and I know 3 people other than myself on the picket line whose tenant associations are in legal disputes with their landlords on top of everything else.

Republican governor + Republican mayor= unliveable conditions

In NY, it is against the law for transit workers to strike. The workers should know that and obey the law.

Normally, I support the right to strike, but in this case a strike is illegal and very bad for the city. The union leaders will be in jail and the union will be fined hugely if they strike.

It's not easy to stand out in the cold, freeze your ass off, and open yourself up to public scorn and ridicule. I know that one of the reasons why the workers are striking is because the city wants to invest in glitchy new computerized trains that will result in the firing of engineers and mechanics. (Personally, I think they should invest in a new East Side line with all the revenue.) There is also a sense of extreme distrust with MTA officials because they were caught cooking the books during the last negotiations.

I'd like to change the law forbidding public workers to strike. The power to withhold labor is often the only power a working person has. These days they dock pay and fire you if you're on strike; if people are willing to suffer those consequences then maybe they have a reason to do what they're doing. I'm sure that the union has calculated its risk on this one.

Of course I don't want to see a strike, if it can be avoided. I have to say though, that the climate in Manhattan has deteriorated remarkably in the past two years. The city is more corporate than ever and much less liveable. Just a personal perspective.

NYU (the bastards) are setting up cots in the gymnasium so off-campus students can sleep there before finals. I'm sure they'll be at optimal performance living like refugees.

Out of the frying pan...

Why can't transit workers be considered essential public workers, like police or firefighters? If this happens it'll be at least the fifth major transit strike in two years -- and it's always low-wage workers who are transit-dependent and get shafted.

I don't know why they just don't cancel exams if the strike goes on. It seems exceedingly unfair.

who spent $77 million of his own money to basically buy the mayoralty in the last election. He spent about $50 or $60 million to do the same thing in the previous mayoral election when he first ran for the office. Maybe he should dig deeper into his very deep pockets and fork over some of his money towards any losses incurred by the MTA strike --- or better yet --- subsidize the price of a subway or bus ride for the working poor. Nah, not gonna hold my breath.

Getting to work tomorrow is gonna be a joy, particularly since the weather folks are predicting a "wintry mix" tonight and tomorrow morning. Snow, sleet & subway strike --- oh brother!

How people are going to get from Brooklyn/Bronx/Queens to their jobs in Manhattan is beyond me. Contingency plan my ass. Four passengers to a taxi. I can't even get a taxi when it rains on a Sunday night. It's going to take so long to get anywhere that the taxis are going to be full at about the same rate.

http://www.newyorkology.com/archives/2005/12/35_pct_of_cabbi.html

If there is a subway and bus strike in New York City on Friday, about 35 percent of the city's taxi drivers may also stay home rather than deal with the stress and new, complicated fare system, the director of the Taxi Workers Alliance told NewYorkology.

Bhairavi Desai said her organization, which represents about 7,000 of the city's 12,787 licensed cabbies, is encouraging drivers not to work during a strike in part because they could ultimately lose their operating licenses if they charge the wrong fares under the city's Strike Contingency Plan announced Wednesday.

"It's going to be incredibly stressful," she said. "And at a time of utter chaos, they've come up with this zone system" that neither passengers nor drivers are likely to easily understand.

The MTA falls under the province of the State. Pataki controls the MTA board.

I'm going to defend Bloomberg because he has been able to work out contracts with all the unions in the city he's had to deal with.

I just came in from work and it's already slick as shit out there. There was also a lot of anxious energy on the train. Like people were thinking "Is this train going to get me home before the strike?" I saw the MTA was now offering 9% over three years. That's only 3% a year. The cost of living rises faster than 3% a year.

Haven't spoken with him in a while, but an old buddy is a motorman there.

And he ain't livin' high on the hog by any stretch.

It's a suprisingly stressful job. I think my pal deserves a raise given the surplus.

But then I am sure that they will raise the fares so we can pay for it.

... including bonuses for the executives. Instead, they're told their work isn't worth it. Isn't worth it? $400 mil/day? Riiiight.

Welcome to corporate plantation colonialism. The fascists have arrived and taken over.